Published 7:00 pm, Friday, February 14, 2003

Villanova (14-9, 7-3 Big East), which had lost four of five, hadn't beaten a ranked opponent since upsetting No. 9 Michigan State 81-73 last Nov. 29.

Ben Gordon scored 22 of his 25 points in the second half, and Emeka Okafor added 18 points and 16 rebounds for the Huskies (15-6, 6-4).

Gordon, UConn's leading scorer, was in the starting lineup despite being arrested Friday on charges of slapping a female student, who also was arrested for allegedly hitting him. Gordon was released on $1,000 bond and is scheduled for a court appearance Feb. 25.

UConn, which trailed most of the second half, got to 65-63 with 4:13 left on three straight free throws by Gordon, who was fouled by Randy Foye while shooting a 3-pointer.

But a putback slam by Wright and a 3-pointer by Buchanan increased Villanova's lead to 70-63 with 3:11 remaining. After a putback by Rashad Anderson, the Wildcats scored five straight on free throws to ice it.

UConn, which beat No. 17 Syracuse 75-61 on Monday, had dropped from No. 6 in the AP poll by losing four of seven before defeating the Orangemen.

The Huskies had won two straight since losing two in a row by more than 20 points. They are 2-2 without coach Jim Calhoun, who was released from the hospital last Sunday, three days after having surgery to remove a cancerous prostate.

Villanova, which lost to UConn 74-65 on Jan. 25, had lost nine of the last 12 in the series.

After a fastbreak layup by Denham Brown gave the Huskies a 51-47 lead 5:57 into the second half, Villanova went on a 9-0 run and led the rest of the way.

Derrick Snowden's 3-pointer ignited the run. Marcus Austin followed with a layup and Allan Ray made four straight free throws, including two for a technical on Huskies associate head coach George Blaney, who's filling in for Calhoun.

Gordon, averaging 20.3 points per game, missed six of seven shots in the first half but made his first four in the second half. He finished 8-for-19.

Buchanan was 8-for-17, including 6-for-12 from 3-point range.

UConn committed 24 turnovers to Villanova's eight.

The Huskies were without starting point guard Taliek Brown for the third straight game. Brown will be out four-to-six weeks with a broken finger.

Despite shooting just 30.6 percent in the first half, Villanova led 36-33 at halftime. A 3-pointer by Foye gave the Wildcats their biggest lead to that point, 29-22. Buchanan's third 3 of the half made it 36-30 before a 3-point play by Okafor cut the deficit to three at the half.